Captain, my captain: Marshall leads troops from the front

By Michael Chammas

May 19, 2012 — 3.00am

WESTS TIGERS coach Tim Sheens was ready to switch Benji Marshall back to his regular position at five-eighth in the second half to replace the injured Chris Lawrence, but Marshall demanded he stay at halfback.

Marshall took it upon himself to lead the Tigers to a come-from-behind victory last night. He wanted to be involved.

Sinking the boot into the Warriors ... Benji Marshall.Credit:Anthony Johnson

He took the onus to steer the Tigers back from a 10-0 deficit, determined to remain the central figure in the Tigers attack in the second half and leave no stone unturned in pursuit of his side's fourth consecutive victory.

Sheens reflected on Marshall's willingness to remain at halfback as a pivotal moment in last night's contest, thankful he listened to his stand-in skipper at the break.

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''Benji controlled the tempo of the game,'' Sheens said.

''I was going to play him at five-eighth in the second half but he didn't want to. He wanted to stay at seven and I'm glad we stuck to that because [Blake] Ayshford went to five-eighth and he's mainly a running player as well, although he's played a lot of five-eighth as a kid.

''But Benji controlled the game basically between the nine and the outside backs. He controlled the tempo of the game, the field position of the game and everyone else hooked in and tackled their backsides off. He got a lot more touches and I think that was important.''

Marshall played a hand, or foot if you're literal, to get the Tigers out to a 12-10 lead early in the second half.

The Tigers came from behind on two occasions, dealing well with the reshuffle at half-time, which saw Ayshford shift into five-eighth, Beau Ryan into the centres, and Matt Utai on to the wing.

''To come back from the first-half scoreline was a great effort, particularly when I had to replace Chrissy Lawrence at half time and adjust the team, which isn't easy to do when you adjust an inexperienced five-eighth and you have to find another one," Sheens said.

''Blake Ayshford did a good job. Against the grain, I thought that kick that came out the back and they ran the length of the field could've busted us but it didn't. We came back from it. I'm happy with that.''

Lawrence aggravated his hamstring towards the end of the first half but decided to play on until half time.

He was unable to return in the second half, but Sheens said it wasn't a major concern and he could be back for next Sunday's clash against the Cowboys in Campbelltown.

''It's minor, very minor,'' Sheens said. ''But it would've led to a serious injury. I think he'll be all right for next week but I wasn't prepared to take the punt. He wasn't able to stride out. If you can't run full on with a hamstring, you're better off out.

''In the long run, if he misses a game, that will be the worst case scenario. I think he may play being Friday to Sunday [turnaround] anyway. It's not the one he suffered last year, so that's a good sign.''

Sheens admitted it wasn't a season-defining victory, but without Robbie Farah, Chris Heighington, Gareth Ellis and Lawrence for the second half of the game, he wasn't worried about winning ugly.

''All the wins have been that way, they haven't been classic Wests Tigers as such,'' he said.

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''But we haven't had every body fit, we haven't always had everybody in the team. We've been up and down a bit with personnel and changes with personnel.

''We've had to grind it out. Earlier in the year we were being criticised for not grinding it out. Now, of course, we're being criticised for not being Wests Tigers.''